Memory: The Origins of Alien
Screen Media Films | Release Date: October 4, 2019 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
70
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 18 Critic Reviews
Positive:
11
Mixed:
7
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
RogerEbert.comMatt Zoller SeitzOct 4, 2019
It weaves every detail — whether provided by an on-camera witness, a document, a drawing, a painting or a photograph — around that set of intertwined arguments, which are too complex to explain in this review, but come across powerfully by the time the credits roll. Read full review
83
The PlaylistJordan RuimyOct 3, 2019
This is a hearty, four-course meal for film fans, which, once again, demonstrates that the study of a film can be just as invigorating an experience as the actual film itself. Read full review
80
Screen DailyFionnuala HalliganOct 3, 2019
Although MEMORY follows some templates of the format, trying to lock Alien into a cultural and political framework, the film itself transcends that obviousness. Read full review
80
VarietyOwen GleibermanOct 3, 2019
“Memory” captures the hypnotic layers of history and meaning that were folded into the shock value of “Alien.” Read full review
80
Time OutJoshua RothkopfOct 3, 2019
Philippe earns his keep, not only by mounting a crisp, elegant production well above the standard of your typical video-lensed making-of, but by skewing toward anecdotes that most corporate clients would frown upon. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangOct 3, 2019
A rich and diverting piece of film scholarship. Read full review
80
The GuardianPhil HoadSep 26, 2019
What this solemn and enlivening documentary plunge into the history of Ridley Scott’s sci-fi classic reiterates is the idea of film as a collective art form – not just the wider circle of writers, performers and technicians beyond the director, but in the case of the truly great films, serendipitous access to a deeper collective unconscious to which we all have the keys – even if few know how to use them. Read full review
78
TheWrapWilliam BibbianiOct 3, 2019
With its passionate contributors and lofty ideas, Memory: The Origins of Alien demonstrates that, if nothing else, the study of a film can be as exciting as the film itself. Read full review
70
Paste MagazineAndrew CrumpOct 10, 2019
Alien takes the long way around the barn to get from its creator’s fundamental psychic “stuff” to the genre classic it is today; Memory: The Origins of Alien, dissects the journey from concept to conception in microscopic detail, and w Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyOct 3, 2019
Saving some of the best for last, director Philippe makes outstanding use of footage of what in the trade is called the money shot, the startling payoff that everything has been building toward — in this case, of course, the scene featuring the “chestburster.” Read full review
70
The New York TimesBen KenigsbergOct 3, 2019
While it is generally engaging to learn about the influences of the screenwriter Dan O’Bannon or the artistic process of H.R. Giger (who designed the alien), the documentary is at its least fawning when it focuses on technique. Read full review
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